"Hear hear, great job for everyone! For once, our exploration didn't turn into a back and forth slog. Perhaps we are worthy adventurers after all!" Rhade scans the room with DetectMagic.
Jalal chuckles. "I didn't doubt us for a second!" he declares. He searches the undead corpses.
In the room, you find a few ceremonial religious tools, including a silver chalice, a silver ritual knife, and a tithing box scattered across the floor. All are slightly damaged and dented. Nothing glows magical but the chalice is worth 30 gp and the knife has the broken condition, which could be fixed with a Mending spell.
Pool area:
An immense tiled pool, empty and no more than two feet deep, lies beneath a vaulted ceiling covered with images of celestial beings. Four columns stand beyond the pool to the northeast, each carved to represent one of the four primal elements. A ring of hieroglyphs encircles the base of each pillar.
Jalal and Kakra determine that the ring of hieroglyphs around each columns symbolize the four elements of life and that this was perhaps a baptismal area in the early days of the temple.
Ready to go to west side?
Gorguk waits patiently as they discover lost artifacts of the ancient days Orr worship. As there is no threat currently Gorguk is content to wait till they have satisfied themselves that all is searched and accounted for. While they search though Gorguk keeps his eyes and ears open for the Siters that he knows are here somewhere.
Jalal picks up the chalice and broken knife. He glances at the box, but leaves it. He places both items into his bag. "More for the Church to catalog, though these are artifacts of Nethys."
"Come let us see the rest of the temple. Perhaps we can find what the Sisters seek so much."
You begin exploring the western side of the Temple. You see first a dormitory section, where you imagine the acolyte priests slept long ago, before the Temple fell. As you are exploring, out of the rooms stumble 3 zombies, with their tell-tale moans and slow gait.
Rhade will move just to the left of Gorguk and cast Burning Hands on the two zombies.
Damage
Reflex 14 for half.
Jalal moves up quickly to try and finish off one of the zombies. He swings his sword, but it's a wild swing and it only connects with the doorframe.
Alzaar attempts to trip the zombie in front of him, and then steps back to let someone with a sword finish it off.
Rhade moves to W13 and unleashes fire from his hands, which engulfs the helpless zombies and they collapse to the ground unmoving, the scent of burnt flesh in the air.
Alzaar trips the one closest to him, allowing Jalal to come in and slash one of its arms off!
Still alive and prone, the zombie tries to crush the elf's ankle with its remaining arm, but misses horribly!
If Jalal does not put it down then Gorguk moves up to finish the zombie.
power attack for
Jalal attacks the zombie again.
Jalal beheads the zombie, ending its undead existence.
"Well, that was a touch easier. Good work, Rhade and Alzaar." Jalal begins searching the various rooms for artifacts. "Still no other signs of the Sisters."
Wow, quite impressive. I didn't even have a chance to move and you vanquished all of them. If every situation was this easy we would have been able to finsih this place yesterday. I am still nervous though that we may run into the Sister too late. Still let us not hurry onward without doing our due diligence here. I will keep watch while you search this area.
"I have used a decent bit of my magic, so I'll try to hold off, if possible. Hopefully, we just find some more of those vermin we dispatched before. Those weren't bad."
The dormitories yield no treasure so you continue your search north. A short hallway connects a shallow, empty pool to the west to two curtained cubicles to the east. A wooden bench is bolted to the floor in a small alcove across from the pool. A set of stone doors marked with hieroglyphs stands to the north.
In this area, you find that two corpses have been dragged into the northern cubicle here. One is a pile of bare bones kicked unceremoniously out of the way, and the other is a rotting, but still intact, cadaver. An old, broken scimitar lies nearby. The bones are scorched and still warm to the touch, and the corpse has suffered a number of recent injuries. Jalal identifies the bodies as recently destroyed undead—a skeleton and zombie, respectively.
The double doors to the north have an inscription in Ancient Osiriani hieroglyphs that reads, “High Priest Only—All Others Forbidden.” The doors are locked.
Gorguk looks at the undead with a strange smile, It seems we are on the right track as only the Sisters could have done this recently. We have seen no other sign of another presence which means the Sisters must be just ahead of us. We should proceed cautiously and check the door for traps that they may have left behind.
"We might not be the High Priest, but neither are those bastards ahead of us. I think Nethys would forgive us this one trespass, Kakra. At least I hope..."
Jalal gives the inscription a serious look. He turns to Kakra. "I respect the Code of Nethys. However, if the Sisters have entered here, would you say they have broken the Code too? They are not the high Priestess of Nethys."
"Alzaar, can you tell if this was entered recently?"
Actually, with his acute eyes, the elf notices faint marks, most likely caused by a lock pick, around the edges of the key hole.
Gorguk looks on the inscription and ponders what Kakra has said. Of all of us Kakra and I are perhaps the most pious and we would do well to listen to her guidance in spiritual matters. However, in this instance, I believe letting the Sisters reign free is a greater sacrilege than entering ourselves.
"Look here." Jalal kneels down to examine the door. "Tool marks. It appears someone has already broken into the chamber, Kakra. Shall we follow to see who they are?"
Jalal nods. "Very well. We will try to be respectful of whatever is inside." He pushes on the door to open it, believing that the Sister would not have re-locked the door behind them.
Unfortunately, they did and the door is locked.
Alzaar smiles and pulls out his lockpicks.
Well, if you'll make sure nothing comes barreling at me when I open the door, I can get it open.
He kneels down, and sets to work.
There are no traps on the door and after 2 minutes of slow and steady work (Alzaar notes that his picks make similar marks on the lock, so perhaps someone else also used this strategy before), he unlocks the door.
This sparsely furnished room contains a bed frame bolted to the floor in the southwest corner next to a lacquered end table. On the opposite side of the room, a wooden desk has partially collapsed against the wall. Doors exit to the north and east, which are also locked with similar lock pick tool marks. Alzaar takes another 8 minutes and unlocks both doors as well.
Rhade shrugs his shoulders and points to the east, but letting the trapsmith make the final decision before the group plods onward.
East is as good as any. Let's roll on.
He takes his position at point as they move down the hallway.
Are there any tracks in the dust that would point the way? Or perhaps indicate which past was used most recently?Gorguk asks before those in the front disturb anything.
Jalal peers at the floor, trying to see if he can discern any footprints.
You see tracks heading both north and east, so you head east into a library. Rows of stone shelves fill this crowded room. Most of the books and scrolls once stored here have disintegrated over time, but a few volumes engraved on more durable materials still endure. Numerous scroll tubes litter the floor of the room amid the dusty remains of ruined paper and papyrus.
Rhade casts Detect Magic and starts scanning the library. He also looks at the more mundane volumes for anything interesting, focusing on any sphinx related tomes. "Wow...now this is what I'm talking about! I wonder if there are any spellbooks in here?"
Jalal helps Rhade sifts through the scrolls and book. "So many! I wonder what ancient secrets these hold."
Gorguk keeps watch over the area and particularly those behind them should the Sisters make a sudden appearance. Periodically though he still tries to help with the search of all the scrolls even though he may not know exactly what he is looking for.
Perception aid
Perception
Rhade's Detect Magic spell leads him to find two scrolls among the numerous scrolls on the floor. He identifies them as containing Remove Paralysis and Detect Secret Doors. However, he finds himself lost among the other dozens of scrolls scattered about the library.
Rhade shows the scrolls to the others. "We need to spend some time here after we find those others. There's all kind of arcane knowledge here, I bet!"
That is fine as there is too much here for me to look at currently with the distraction of the Sisters. Once they have been taken to task then take all the time you need.
After the group finished with the library (for the time being), Alzaar drags arcade away from its tomes, and continues to the next door or exit from the room. He carefully examines it as he approaches.
Perception
As Rhade is drug along by Alzaar Gorguk moves to the last remaining doorway to the north and prepares to meet the Sisters or whatever may be behind the door. Caution friends, who knows what devious traps or creatures are going to be sprung on us.
Alzaar's keen eyes find an unrolled papyrus scroll discarded on the floor. It describes, in Ancient Osiriani, how magicians of Osirion’s First Age could alter elementals to new forms and purposes. The text describes the concept of an elemental entity, called an akhat, that dwells within a single building or structure, such as a monument, temple, or manor. The floors and walls of this structure are the ahkhat’s veins and arteries, and the doors and windows of the building are the creature’s fingers and toes. An ahkhat exists solely to maintain and protect its attuned structure. Each entity has a “keystone” that binds it to a building and pacifies it. The scroll further mentions that such keystones were frequently built into the foundations of the structure and often concealed by secret doors.
In addition, Alzaar spots a secret panel in the western wall of the library. He investigates it for traps and finding none, proceeds to open the complex locking mechanics, taking 20. He opens the panel to reveal several scrolls and a tablet. However, before he can reach inside to investigate, the scroll on top abruptly rises in the air, unraveling as it flies out of the panel, cutting the bard's hand with its razor sharp edges, leaving a wound that continues to bleed.